Aquarium: How Jeannette Power Invented Aquariums to Observe Marine Life

by Darcy Pattison, Peter Willia (Illustrator)

Overview

In 1818, Jeannette Power, a young French woman moved to Sicily and fell in love with the Mediterranean Sea and the Argonauta Argo octopus, the weirdest octopus on Earth.

Amazing weird fact: The Argonaut octopus creates a delicate shell for itself which it uses to travel up and down in the water and as a safe place to raise its young.

At the time, though, the only way to study a marine animal was if it was dead on land. That wasn't good enough. Jeannette wanted to study this creature alive. She had many questions: did it create its own shell, how did it reproduce, what did it eat, and did it know she was watching? She knew that careful observation was the only way to answer her questions.

Follow French scientist Jeannette Power on her quest for answers about one of the most mysterious marine animals on Earth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781629442334
Publisher:	Mims House Books
Publication date:	06/13/2023
Series:	Moments in Science , #8
Pages:	34
Sales rank:	1,096,266
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.09(d)
Lexile:	870L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Children's book author and indie publisher Darcy Pattison writes award-winning fiction and non-fiction books for children. Five books have received starred PW, Kirkus, or BCCB reviews. Awards include the Irma Black Honor award, five NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books, two Eureka! Nonfiction Honor book, two Junior Library Guild selections, two NCTE Notable Children's Book in Language Arts, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book, an Arkansiana Award, and the Susannah DeBlack Arkansas Children's History Book award. She's the 2007 recipient of the Arkansas Governor's Arts Award for Individual Artist for her work in children's literature. Her books have been translated into ten languages.

With over 25 years' experience in illustration and design, illustrator Peter Willis continues to be as enthusiastic and passionate about his work as ever. His illustrations have palpable character, bringing them to life through his craft and quirky approach. He lives in northeast England with his wife and daughter. Willis is the illustrator of the Moments in Science series. The first four books have been translated into simplified Chinese; the first six books will be translated into Korean. Peter is also the illustrator of THE NANTUCKET SEA MONSTER: A Fake News Story, a Junior Library Guild Selection, a 2018 NCTE Notable Children's Book in Language Arts, and translated into Korean. Peter Willis brings humor to the story, but he also manages to convey accurate information about matter and its physical properties.

Editorial Reviews

2023-05-24
Pattison relates the life of French marine biologist Jeannette Power (1794-1871) in this children’s illustrated biography.

Power is famous for inventing aquariums, which enabled her to study “a 4-inch long octopus, the Argonauta argo.” The researcher, who was born Jeanne Villepreux in Juillac, France, journeyed to Sicily in Italy to marry her fiance in 1818. Her fascination with the sea inspired her to study live marine creatures. To keep them alive for any significant length of time, they needed fresh seawater and food; the scientist first tried using glass vases with cork lids and later designed “simple glass cages,” among other things, to study the Argonauta argo, beginning in 1832. These allowed her to observe the octopuses for hours. For more than 10 years, Power observed more than 1,000 octopuses in her aquariums. Through their use, she was able to do an experiment to observe how the octopuses repair their own broken shells, which hadn’t previously been witnessed by humans before. Power effectively opened up a window to the sea so that “others could be captivated by the sea and its creatures.” Pattison’s biography provides engaging information about a relatively little-known figure and her innovations in marine studies, and it does so in a manner that’s likely to appeal to kids. Along the way, the text effectively elucidates the steps of the scientific method, including prediction, observation, analysis of data, and formulation of a conclusion. Willis’ full-color, painterly illustrations are detailed, vividly hued, and clearly enhance the events of the text. Appendices with further information on the “World’s Weirdest Octopus,” the science of oceanography, and other topics add further interest. Overall, young readers will be sure to enjoy this colorful tale of Power’s innovative spirit.

A fine introduction to experimental observation for young readers.

Kirkus Reviews